𝐔𝐧𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥

The owl shenanigans

It was finally time to announce her success in obtaining the Potions credits to Sprout. "Pomona", Blanche said while sitting down at the teacher's table, "we did it". Sprout looked at her incredulously. "Just... how?"

Blanche raised her eyebrows, and replied: "It wasn't pretty". She decided to keep the details to herself.

Pomona let out a relieved laugh. She had been waiting for the response, and she now looked radiant.

"Minerva, we got a very convincing woman in our staff" she squealed, involving McGonagall in the conversation. She looked lost in her thoughts and snapped back to reality when called. "What happened?"

"She convinced Severus to give out extra Potions credits to the garden's joiners. I'm almost scared!" laughed Sprout. Minerva looked at Blanche with wide eyes. "How, dear?"

Blanche smiled at her. "By hook or by crook, I'm getting what I want. Especially from certain people."

Minerva brought a hand to her chest with a startled smile. There was something about Blanche that she still couldn't grasp, now more than ever: she didn't expect Snape to cave.

"Speaking of the devil", Sprout said, looking at Snape make his entrance in the hall. She smiled wide at him, only to be ignored in favor of the Headmistress when he walked towards the table. "Minerva, we must talk." He said imperiously. McGonagall didn't seem to appreciate his tone. "Good morning to you, Severus," she replied calmly, emphasizing the to you part. He avoided Blanche's eyes, looking particularly uneasy on his feet.

"Thank you for agreeing, Snape," she said, influenced by his discomfort. He ignored her. Insufferable. She was happier than ever for not having said a thing the night before, in a moment of weakness.

He slid away, putting an end to the conversation. Minerva sighed. Blanche decided to change the topic. "So, this year the Ravenclaw crowd is being particularly unruly. Is there something in the water? What happened to your Gryffindors, weren't they the troublemakers?" she asked ironically, attacking her food. Minerva nonchalantly replied: "kids are kids. Prepare for a wild ride, dear."

Sprout giggled. "At least the Hufflepuffs are behaving.. for now". Minerva smiled enigmatically, and said: "I'm looking forward to seeing if you're right, Pomona."

Sprout laughed again; she was in a splendid mood. Good for her, Blanche thought.

At 8, she was in class. As usual, she locked the door, and she was pleased to notice that almost every student was on time. She was feeling a little optimistic.

"Good morning" she greeted them.

Silence. She noticed that the students were avoiding looking at her, mostly staring at their books or, well, anywhere else. Something was off.

Knight let out an anxious hiccup, getting a nudge from Hudson. Blanche looked at her. "The subject of today's lesson will be the Patronus' function. But first, one of you will tell me what is going on. Volunteers?"

Silence.

She slowly came forward.

Knight was visibly distressed, so she decidedly asked her: "Knight?"

The girl was terrified. Blanche raised an eyebrow and looked at the class. "I may add that, while the veritaserum's use on students is strictly prohibited, a great skill I suggest you all acquire is legilimens."

She obviously had no intention of actually intruding into the students' minds. She had no interest at all in doing so; what she wanted to accomplish with her veiled threat was to scare them into understanding what ill-intentioned magic had the potential to do.